v56

latestOpenAPI 3.0.3MITraw.githubusercontent.com2026-08-011,4581,08113.3 MB

gists

Update a gist

Allows you to update a gist's description and to update, delete, or rename gist files. Files from the previous version of the gist that aren't explicitly changed during an edit are unchanged.

At least one of description or files is required.

This endpoint supports the following custom media types. For more information, see "Media types."

application/vnd.github.raw+json: Returns the raw markdown. This is the default if you do not pass any specific media type.

patch/gists/{gist_id}

Path parameters

gist_idstring required

The unique identifier of the gist.

Request body

descriptionstring

The description of the gist.

filesobject

The gist files to be updated, renamed, or deleted. Each key must match the current filename (including extension) of the targeted gist file. For example: hello.py.

To delete a file, set the whole file to null. For example: hello.py : null. The file will also be deleted if the specified object does not contain at least one of content or filename.

Example request

{
  "description": "Example Ruby script",
  "files": {
    "hello.rb": {
      "content": "blah",
      "filename": "goodbye.rb"
    }
  }
}

Response

urlstring

forks_urlstring

commits_urlstring

idstring

node_idstring

git_pull_urlstring

git_push_urlstring

html_urlstring

filesobject

publicboolean

created_atstring

updated_atstring

descriptionstring nullable

commentsinteger

comments_enabledboolean

userstring nullable

comments_urlstring

truncatedboolean

Example response

{
  "forks": [
    {
      "user": {
        "private_gists": 1,
        "total_private_repos": 2,
        "owned_private_repos": 2,
        "disk_usage": 1,
        "collaborators": 3
      }
    }
  ],
  "history": [
    {
      "user": {
        "login": "octocat",
        "id": 1,
        "node_id": "MDQ6VXNlcjE=",
        "avatar_url": "https://github.com/images/error/octocat_happy.gif",
        "gravatar_id": "41d064eb2195891e12d0413f63227ea7",
        "url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat",
        "html_url": "https://github.com/octocat",
        "followers_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/followers",
        "following_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/following{/other_user}",
        "gists_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/gists{/gist_id}",
        "starred_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/starred{/owner}{/repo}",
        "subscriptions_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/subscriptions",
        "organizations_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/orgs",
        "repos_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/repos",
        "events_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/events{/privacy}",
        "received_events_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/received_events",
        "type": "User",
        "starred_at": "\"2020-07-09T00:17:55Z\"",
        "user_view_type": "public"
      }
    }
  ],
  "fork_of": {
    "user": {
      "login": "octocat",
      "id": 1,
      "node_id": "MDQ6VXNlcjE=",
      "avatar_url": "https://github.com/images/error/octocat_happy.gif",
      "gravatar_id": "41d064eb2195891e12d0413f63227ea7",
      "url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat",
      "html_url": "https://github.com/octocat",
      "followers_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/followers",
      "following_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/following{/other_user}",
      "gists_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/gists{/gist_id}",
      "starred_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/starred{/owner}{/repo}",
      "subscriptions_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/subscriptions",
      "organizations_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/orgs",
      "repos_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/repos",
      "events_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/events{/privacy}",
      "received_events_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/received_events",
      "type": "User",
      "starred_at": "\"2020-07-09T00:17:55Z\"",
      "user_view_type": "public"
    },
    "owner": {
      "login": "octocat",
      "id": 1,
      "node_id": "MDQ6VXNlcjE=",
      "avatar_url": "https://github.com/images/error/octocat_happy.gif",
      "gravatar_id": "41d064eb2195891e12d0413f63227ea7",
      "url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat",
      "html_url": "https://github.com/octocat",
      "followers_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/followers",
      "following_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/following{/other_user}",
      "gists_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/gists{/gist_id}",
      "starred_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/starred{/owner}{/repo}",
      "subscriptions_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/subscriptions",
      "organizations_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/orgs",
      "repos_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/repos",
      "events_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/events{/privacy}",
      "received_events_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/received_events",
      "type": "User",
      "starred_at": "\"2020-07-09T00:17:55Z\"",
      "user_view_type": "public"
    }
  },
  "owner": {
    "login": "octocat",
    "id": 1,
    "node_id": "MDQ6VXNlcjE=",
    "avatar_url": "https://github.com/images/error/octocat_happy.gif",
    "gravatar_id": "41d064eb2195891e12d0413f63227ea7",
    "url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat",
    "html_url": "https://github.com/octocat",
    "followers_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/followers",
    "following_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/following{/other_user}",
    "gists_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/gists{/gist_id}",
    "starred_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/starred{/owner}{/repo}",
    "subscriptions_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/subscriptions",
    "organizations_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/orgs",
    "repos_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/repos",
    "events_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/events{/privacy}",
    "received_events_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/received_events",
    "type": "User",
    "starred_at": "\"2020-07-09T00:17:55Z\"",
    "user_view_type": "public"
  }
}